One Santander Bank Branch Closes But Patisserie Valerie Is Saved

Published on: 23 Jan, 2019
Updated on: 25 Jan, 2019

By Hugh Coakley

Further signs of difficulties for our high streets were announced in the last two days with café chain Patisserie Valerie going into administration and banking group Santander deciding to close 140 shops.

Patisserie Valerie in North Street remains open after the company went into administration, subject to a buyer being found.

There was delight in the Guildford branch of Patisserie Valerie as it was not one of the 71 of its nearly 200 shops listed to close immediately. It will continue to trade while a buyer for the company is sought.

‘Now Hiring’ sign in the Patisserie Valerie window today despite the company going into administration.

A spokesperson in the shop said: “Everything is normal. We were not one of the listed shops because business is good here.

“We are not doing the reward schemes or selling PV vouchers but we will redeem existing ones.”

Surprisingly, there was a sign in the window seeking new staff to join the team. The spokesperson added: “We are still hiring because we need the staff.”

However, one of the two Santander shops in Guildford’s High Street is earmarked for closure.

The branch at 43 High Street, at the bottom end, is to remain open. The branch at the top of the High Street will close on December 12, 2019.

The Guildford Dragon NEWS understands that Guildford staff will not be affected.

The closure will reduce the number of Santander branches in the town centre to one from a peak in 2011 of five following the Spanish bank’s acquisition of several building societies.

Santander is closing 140 branches including the one at the top of Guildford High Street.

The reasons for the announcements for the two companies were very different.

Patisserie Valerie had uncovered “significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities” in October 2018. This pushed the company close to bankruptcy but it appeared to have been saved by an injection of cash by investors and new shareholders. However, it was reported that negotiations with the banks had failed leading to the move to administration.

For Santander, the bank has blamed the closures on “changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking”. Customer visits to banks are generally declining as more transactions are carried out online.